tinam Vēlvi yālelil punai mūvāyira mēnmai vētiyar mikavē pūcanai purikōvē. ['O Lord! very well worshipped by the brahmins known for their greatness as mūvāyiravar (the three thousand) who excel in performing sacrifices and worship daily in strict adherence to the rules laid down in the Vedas.'] The beauty inherent in these lines fascinated V.T.S. so much that he made it his life's mission to collect and publish at least one thousand of the 16,000 songs believed to have been composed by Arunagirinathar. In this effort, V.T.S. felt that the world should get the same joy that he derived. Tānperra inpam peruka ivvaiyakam. Being an ardent devotee of Lord Murukan, he rightly thought that the Tiruppukal songs were the prime pieces of adoration of Lord Murukan just as Tēvāram and Tiruvācakam were considered as best suited for prayers to Lord Śiva. Sources of songs In January 1876, he found six songs of Tiruppukal in the second volume of Arumuka Navalar's Caiva Vinā vitai. In April, on a Good Friday morning, he started copying the songs from palm leaves which had been collected. On June 28, 1878, he obtained 750 songs on palm leaves from Annamalai Pillai of Kanchipuram, and on September 30, a further 400 songs from Sreenivasa Pillai of Pinnatur near Chidambaram. On 20 March 1881, Arumuga Iyer of Karunkuli gave him 900 more songs. In 1903 palm leaves containing 780 songs were found from Tirumakaral, which had just one new song. It was a difficult task to wade through and organize his collection because of repetitions of songs, and variations in the text. In his effort to rectify the errors to the extent possible, the 3 Tamil scholars Śiva Chidambara Mudaliar of Cuddalore, Salem Saravana Pillai, and Anantarama Iyer were of immense help. In spite of all this, V.T.S. in the introduction to the first print requested the public to bear with any errors in the text, hoping to get the text perfected in subsequent editions. This indicates his sole desire to bring out the perfect poetic form of Tiruppukal. He also thanked profusely all those who contributed in the great task of collecting the Tiruppukal hymns. Organization of songs The songs pertaining to the six places Ārupataivītu were placed first followed by Pañcabhūta sthalas. The remaining songs were grouped under Tontai Natu, Cola Natu, etc. Songs not pertaining to any particular place were arranged towards the end. Publication